Request for Help!!!!

It will be very, very rarely that I ask you to do something for me via this blog.

But, this one is super important to me.

For the past several years, Mike and I have supported a charity called Smile Train. Smile Train has provided doctors in remote locations, such as China and India, with medical training to repair cleft lips.

Literally, in other countries, this deformity castrates its victims from society. Parents of children born with clefts think the children are cursed. It is only through repair that this misunderstanding can be reversed. Literally, once the repair is done, the "curse" is lifted.

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the money donated to Smile Train goes to training and cleft repair. And, for $250, a surgery is performed!

The next best alternative charity for cleft repairs, Operation Smile, does not train doctors locally, providing jobs in poorer countries, but ships doctors to medical sites. Therefore, the true value of the training is not local.

Also, because we've given to both charities in the past, I am privy to the information that Operation Smile does NOT use 100% of their donations to directly impact surgeries. Sadly, I can not find information on exactly what percentage does impact surgeries, but I can add that we've stopped donating to Operation Smile because of phone conversations I've had with their staff that were backhanded attempts at forcing me into giving to their charity.

SO, it is with great concern that I share that I want to help save Smile Train from being merged with Operation Smile.

Charles Wang has used underhanded, dirty, illegal tactics to force a merger that will eventually, if approved, funnel money into a "trust" that he would have control over, to the tune of over $100 MILLION DOLLARS. If Mr. Wang gets his greedy hands on this trust, children in remote parts of the world will never benefit from it. And, SOME OF THAT MONEY CAME FROM OUR HOUSE!

Because of a desperate money grab that a financially strapped Mr. Wang and associates are attempting to orchestrate, the very children we've sought to help will languish with a very easily repaired cleft, while Mr. Wang slowly uses the trust to keep his hockey team afloat. (See NY Times article below.)

More shocking is the fact that, even though this hasn't passed the hurdle of the Attorney General of New York, Operation Smile's website is heralding the merger as a done deal! They've even gotten Roma Downey to put her sweet name behind this injustice.

If you feel so inclined, you can sign a petition to stop this merger from taking place and, hopefully, put Smile Train back on track.* Simply go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/savesmiletrain/

I can not express the sorrow I feel thinking about my favorite charity being hijacked by a scumbag like Charles Wang. In case you want to know more about him, there are three articles at the bottom of this post that show his "illustrious" past.

In addition to any support you might show by signing the petition, I would genuinely appreciate you joining me in prayer, that justice would prevail in this situation and that Smile Train would be saved from a merger with Operation Smile, to the complete benefit of the children who desperately need their services.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.


New York Times Article: Opposition Arises to Charities’ Merger
http://tinyurl.com/4l6wzgj

(ABOUT CHARLES WANG -- WHO IS LUCKY HE'S NOT SHARING A CELL WITH A 300 LB. GORILLA OF A MAN NAMED TINY, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. Dude, WHEN you are caught--DON'T DROP THE SOAP!)

Ultimate Injustice: More Shenanigans from Charles Wang
http://bit.ly/hlFW9j

Charles Wang's Messy Second Act: The ex-CEO of '90s highflier Computer Associates is trying real estate. But his past won't stay behind him
http://tinyurl.com/ya3emrv

As Charles Wang’s World Crumbles, Justice is Served
http://tinyurl.com/4suoh76


*Yes, even though I'm mad, I'm still fun of puns.